tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21227320038179247412024-02-20T09:27:27.141+02:00Tina In NamibiaCBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.comBlogger113125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-3165071268978974662010-12-09T15:59:00.000+02:002010-12-09T16:00:34.222+02:00Last post from Uis!Hello! One last brief update from Uis. Tomorrow morning I leave my village! This week was the last week of school (teachers had to stay to do paperwork) and has been full of goodbyes for me.<br />For those of you who don’t know, from here I’m going to Mozambique for a week! I’m not sure what the internet situation will be like, so please don’t get too upset if I don’t respond to emails right away ☺<br />Sorry I’m not full of insightful reflection or funny anecdotes, but things have really just been winding down around here. To close this chapter however, I would like to list the contents of a going away gift given to me by a grade 6 learner named Velonika:<br />4 advertisements torn out from magazines<br />2 bags of chips<br />1 page from an ovambo book with the first sentence translated<br />30 namibian cents<br />the front and back cover of a notebook.<br /><br />Clearly wonderful, because these are things valued by an 11 year old, and I should mention that the box was very elaborately decorated.<br /><br />So that’s all for now! I may be able to put something up from Mozambique, but if not have a good couple of weeks!CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-71912302224080261582010-11-13T14:07:00.000+02:002010-11-13T14:09:31.860+02:00A week of events!As we near the end of the year and the end of the term, our school has started to host all of their closing events. This started Thursday night with the Christmas pageant/ pre-primary graduation and awards ceremony. While most of the evening was spent with the pre-primary teacher yelling at everyone to be quiet (now I know where my kids get it—the parents couldn’t shut up) there was a very cute mini-skit of the birth of Jesus put on by grade 4. There was also an awards ceremony for the top performers in the pre-primary class and let me tell you, it gets the award for cutest ceremony ever. There was a lot of chaos and it’s a good thing it was held in a church because it is a miracle no one’s hair got lit on fire (who give 4 year olds candles?!) Then there was a costume change and all of the kids appeared in the smallest caps and gowns I have ever seen. <br />My job for the night was to take pictures in case the parents wanted some but there were about three other people with cameras/camera phones and after about 30 minutes of having people step right in front of me as I was shooting it or getting so close to the kids that they blocked out everyone else’s picture, it was a relief to hand my camera over to one of my high school friends who was not afraid to push and shove for a picture. It’s interesting how since widespread access to cameras is a relatively new phenomenon, no one knows the “camera etiquette” that we all take for granted. <br /><br />Then last night (Friday) was another event- the miss brandberg/ miss pre-primary pageant. The event was… painful, but very much a cultural experience since beauty contests are so popular here. The event was scheduled to start at 5, but I showed up to discover it had been rescheduled for an hour and a half later (somehow everyone in town knew except me, typical!). I re-appeared at 6:30 but could have waited since it didn’t actually begin until 8. Then over a lot of shouting and noise from the crowd, the contestants paraded. It was almost a relief that my camera battery was dead from the night before so I didn’t have to explain “in my culture we don’t take pictures of strange children in their bathing suits…”. There was a swimwear round, traditional clothing, and evening wear. It was, of course, adorable to see the little ones waltz with all of the attitude they could muster and the older contestants were my learners who walked like pros, even if the crowd was too loud for you to hear their mini-speeches. It was a long, but interesting evening.CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-79928784931631577582010-10-25T18:35:00.000+02:002010-10-25T18:39:58.377+02:00ClassOk official apology: I’m sorry I have been so bad about updating. Things here have become routine and it’s difficult to find things to write about. That said, here’s a little something for those of you who still bother to check the blog!<br /><br />Things we are doing in my classes:<br />BIS: I am making newspapers with all of my classes. They have to make advertisements, comics, sports news stories, local news stories, and a profile of a person. Theoretically, these are all things we have done/written in class over the past three months but that’s only true for a few learners… so it’s fun! They are getting into it and actually working hard. Hopefully I will get some pictures when they are done, and this project should take us through until the last class of the semester!<br /><br />RME: Progressing through the world religions! All of them are on Hinduism (grade 5 finishing up, 7 in the middle and grade 6 just starting). They don’t really get the idea of polytheism, but enjoy the pictures of the different gods and the stories about them.<br /><br />Natural science: on our last chapter, the kids just made “environment collages” about what environment means and how it can be protected.<br /><br />Math: telling time. It’s a bit more fun, because we can play with clocks but still a challenge. We have three full chapters and less than 3 weeks before their final. I’m not sure we’re going to make it through everything but if they leave the semester being able to read a clock, add decimals, and convert measurements (meters to cm) I will be happy.<br /><br />Art: Art has been super fun lately. We just finished making masks and grade 7 is having a Halloween party on Thursday when they all have to wear them. They got really into the mask-making project and although there are a lot of kitties, they are creative. The last project we’re doing is making friendship bracelets, which they love. It is the first project all year where even the trouble making boys sit down and work throughout the whole class. It’s a miracle. I even have esau making them after school in the library just to keep him from turning up his obnoxious meter ☺<br /><br />So that’s how thins are going at school! I have my end of service conference this weekend, which is crazy. I remember talking about this part of the year at orientation and it’s baffling that we’re already there, but I guess time flies!CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-64466695667472499362010-09-26T13:09:00.002+02:002010-09-26T13:18:55.706+02:00Quck UpdateHello! Sorry I have been so bad about posting lately, it just feels like there's nothing all that new happening and I'm not far enough removed to want to reflect just yet, so I'm slacking! Last weekend, though, Kristen and Jena came to visit! They arrived friday just after i finished having my hair plaited (pictures as soon as I can, I promise!) and we spent the evening cooking and catching up. Saturday we had a picnic by the reservoir, wore matching tie-dyed dresses (matching is very cool here...) and went to dinner in town. As always we had fun and it was so nice to see them and still be at home :)<br />This week was relatively uneventful, although two of the teachers at my school just started having detention after school, which we can all send misbehavers to. It has been really nice, and the kids hate it so it's a good punishment, although it has sparked a few arguments about being unjustly punished. But I think I can hadle that.<br />I hope something exciting happens so i can write about it, but if not, have a great week! And I will have to write after our trip to the central north next weekend.CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-62850247406396067882010-09-15T19:23:00.001+02:002010-09-15T19:32:10.007+02:00BeautyI think the way that people in Namibia view ideal beauty is really interesting. Obviously this varies a bit from person to person, but just as there are certain very American views on this subject (don’t even get me started, reminds me of waay too many classes I have taken…) an ideal exists in Namibia too. Here’s a breakdown of what I can gather.<br /><br />Hair: Hair should be long and straight. Women here go through a lot to get this look. Most common is plaiting (braiding), but wigs (worn over a tight braid to hide natural hair) that are made out of straight hair and relaxer/ straighteners are also common. Kids are amazed at my hair, not just because it’s long and different from theirs, but because they cannot believe that I don’t have to use multitudes of products to get it to be straight.<br />Also hairy bodies are totally normal and considered beautiful. My kids cannot believe I “cut” the hairs on my legs and they think it’s totally weird. I also had someone tell me they loved my armpit hair (yes that’s a glimpse into personal hygiene here ;) ) which I can certainly imagine is not a compliment I’m going to hear back home.<br /><br />Skin: Generally people think that lighter skin corresponds to more beauty. I have seen women put powders and chemicals on their faces to lighten their skin and often hear my kids put themselves down saying their skin is ugly. It’s upsetting to hear and I’m not sure if it is a remnant of colonialism or even apartheid, but this is probably the most talked about part.<br /><br />Size: Ideas about size are really interesting. Namibia has already been bombarded with western ideals of beauty so people already think that pop stars and actresses should be stick thin with a large chest. But on the day to day, things are different. I am constantly told that I am beautiful because I’m fat (ha I still have not gotten used to taking it as a compliment) and “shaped like a woman”. I had one learner tell me “Miss you have such a beautiful body. You look like you’ve already had two children.” A. Ouch. B. This is a much healthier way to idealize women’s bodies, and I really do appreciate how ingrained into people it is.<br /><br />Teeth: Straight, white teeth are an important part of beauty only in the upper classes. In the lower class it makes no difference, they can be discolored, missing, or pointing in interesting directions and it doesn’t seem to matter. Across all levels of society, however, gold teeth are in, especially third from the front on either top or bottom. People even put little gold stickers (ok... not actually stickers, they last longer) on their front teeth. I have seen stars, moons, dolphins, and circles. It’s amazing how common this is. Mostly when I think of teeth in Namibia, though, I can’t help but picture the pre-primary kids out brushing their teeth by the fence every day after break. As a friend of mine would say, it’s so cute it causes pain ☺CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-55659891690832860212010-09-14T19:01:00.002+02:002010-09-14T19:06:32.123+02:00Quick UpdateHello! I just wanted to let everyone know that last week the bookshelf was delivered!! It is better than I could have expected and exactly what we need. Thanks again to everyone who made this possible!! I spent the weekend re-organizing the library and this week I have been painting the shelves (and a dot on the books!) to color-code the non-fiction section. I realized if this library is going to be usable and not fall into total disorganization, I need to find a system that is as basic as possible and I'm hoping this is it. Hopefully I will post some pictures when it's finished.<br /><br />Other than that not too much exciting is going on around here. Classes have been going alright (some good, some not so much, but that's to be expected) and mostly I'm looking forward to the weekend when the other Erongo girls are going to come visit Uis!<br /><br />I plan to do a topical post later tonight but in case the internet dies or I get distracted, I just wanted to let everyone know what is going on!CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-54017405822392249552010-09-07T15:36:00.002+02:002010-09-07T15:51:00.673+02:00home again home againHello from back in Uis! The end of the trip was pretty wonderful, we stayed an extra day in Botswana camping at a beautiful lodge right on the river. This means we got to enjoy the pool and comforts of a $300/night room for abot $10 :) Yay! We mostly just lounged around but took a great boat tour up the river into Chobe national park and saw hundreds of eliphants, some hippos, crocs, and water buffalo.<br />Then we worked our way up to the Zimbabwe side of victoria falls where we spent an afternoon walking along the national park along the falls just in awe of the spectacular views. We went during the dry season but still got a fair dusting of mist. The next day we went over to the Zambia side and got to visit livingstone island, which is right in the middle of the falls. From there we crossed (holding hands balancing on rocks and swimming at parts- I can hear my mother pancking from here) to devil's pool where you could jump from a rock into a pool right at the edge of the falls. Terrifying but incredible.<br />After that it was mostly a marathon drive back to Rundu (after we met up with another vol and his family for a night out in livingstone) and then another long drive to windhoek. I got back to Uis in time for the first day of classes, and am in a much better place mentally and emotionally than at the end of the last term (not that that's saying much...). Classes today were basically nonexistant... after making all the reports for grade 5 I made the 5 learners in grade six who showed up write goals for the term and play with multiplication flash cards. Despite everything, it's good to be home!CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-80452195332077707612010-08-30T10:57:00.002+01:002010-08-30T11:10:15.698+01:00Greetings From Botswana!Jambo! (ok that's swahili, but I don't know how to say hello in tswana...) Right now we are in the little town of Kasane, in the middle of Chobe national park in northern Botswana. Our campsite is right on the river, and the views are spectacular. Our trip so far has been wonderful and it is definitely helped by Adam, a friend from the states who is here visiting Ari. He helps not because he is particularly great (he is a nice guy though) but rather because he is in constant amazement of stuff here that we forget is not... normal. We are constantly laughing at the little troops of kids hanging out on the side of the road, waving or playing with surprising toys (rocks, cans, wire cars...) and he reminded us that a troop of three year olds without adult supervision is not somthing you see every day in the states. Apparently we also all think it's standard for herds of goats and cows (sometimes baboons or warthogs) to just wander across the road and make you wait for them, he finds this hilarious.<br />We also got really lucky with some very cool animal sightings in Etosha (the national park in Namibia). We pulled up next to a watering hole to see a bunch of zebra and springbok not moving but warily eyeing a lion who was laying down and relaxing in the sun. Another lion came sauntering over and it was almost like all the animals were holding their breath, even the 6 giraffes hanging around. But then everything was disrupted by the true kings of the jungle when a herd of elephants came over to drink and play in the water and all the other animals had to scramble to get out of the way. Amazing.<br />After Etosha we spent one night in Ari's village and then headed to Ngepi camp in the eastern part of Namibia where we camped about three feet from the river and swam in a cage in the river (the cage is so the hippos and crocs don't eat us) while we listened to hippos grunting at eachother across the river.<br />Just thought I would let you know that this vacation is as entertaining and relaxing as i need it to be! Hope things are going well back in the states!CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-37184022188236489882010-08-23T15:44:00.002+01:002010-08-23T15:51:12.630+01:00A not so happy update...Sorry for slacking so much on the whole blog thing, but the internet in Uis has been sporadic (at best) and the past two weeks have been... well... awful. Sorry that so many of my posts are "downers" lately but here's what happened:<br />Two weeks ago, my colleague Werner Aichab, teacher for longer than i have been alive and an important part of my school community suffered a stroke. After a week in the hospital, he passed away last saturday. The school is currently in mourning.<br />On top of that one of the other upper primary teachers suffered a medical emergency and has been in the hospital or recovering at home for two weeks as well.<br />The only other teachers left for upper primary are the principal (who has been at a workshop for over a week) and Jane Doe, who was obviously the target of a lot of harassment and near-violence after these two events.<br />THis means that in addition to the chaos caused by exams, mourning, and demonstrations against one of our teachers, i have been almost single handedly responsible for grades 5 and 6 for over a week. Needless to say, i am a bit exhausted and sooo thankful that our holiday starts wednesday. Hopefully, the next post i have will be about adventures on the way to Zim and Zam (bew and bia)! Hope things back home are a little more stable!CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-81578407525517723082010-08-10T17:40:00.000+01:002010-08-10T19:11:47.895+01:00Exams round IIExams have started up again which means more craziness! This is how things started:<br />I came in Monday (had heard from another teacher in our cluster that exams were supposed to start Monday) and asked my principal if she had received our exam schedule (other vols got theirs about 3 weeks ago…). She replies, “I left a stack of schedules on the table in the staff room Friday afternoon, didn’t you get one?” No…. if you don’t tell me they are there, why would I check? And unfortunately Friday I was busy since all the other upper primary teachers left so I had to supervise three grades who were already out of control because it’s a Friday afternoon… <br />You get the point. <br />Fortunately, they didn’t start Monday but rather today, Tuesday. Unfortunately by 8:00, which is when learners all over the country are supposed to begin their exams, we still hadn’t received the question papers for the tests that the learners were supposed to take today. The principal, who had said during the pre-school staff meeting that she would call to find out where they were, decided they just wouldn’t take them today. Then when the exams were faxed over an hour later, our learners finally started at 10:00. Oh boy. <br />I’m sure the coming weeks will be full of interesting situations and plenty of miscommunications, but the good news is that exams mean it’s almost time for vacation—yay!<br /><br />Also, I put down a deposit on the new bookshelf last week (hooray!!!) only to find out that the price of wood has gone up. I’m still getting it fairly cheap from a local guy, but if you can/are willing to, please please please help out! I would really appreciate it!!! And if you can't help, perhaps you want to ask friends/family who might be more willing? And thank you again to those who have already donated, you got us most of the way there already!CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-42492228880796917702010-08-07T15:50:00.000+01:002010-08-07T15:51:39.679+01:00A global issue on my back porchI have been debating for several weeks about whether or not to write about this topic because it is such a sensitive one, but given that none of you know the individuals involved, I think it should be ok.<br />I have mentioned before that HIV/AIDS is a huge problem in Namibia. 20% of people are infected. As a result, there are a lot of programs from the government and independent organizations geared towards raising awareness and education. My kids are bombarded with information about the disease. They have to listen to plays, hear songs, read magazines, see posters, watch shows, and see commercials about it every day. Even every single school subject’s syllabus contains ways that HIV can be worked into the class materials. As a result, they know a lot. Kids who can barely speak English know the ABCs of prevention (abstain, be faithful, condomize) and are brought up to talk openly about the disease. I mentioned before that there is a small gap between knowledge and ability to apply the knowledge (my 6th graders knew all about condoms but didn’t know the technicalities of how sex actually works…) but that’s probably ok given how young they are, and they still understand the social situations involved. <br />I find it very interesting that some of the topics that are continually addressed are not necessarily things that would be focused on back in the states. I’m not sure if I mentioned this before but cheating is rampant (many men have girlfriends in several different towns who know about each other and are fine with it) so obviously the idea of being faithful is addressed a lot and is not a ‘relationship assumption’ that people here would make. Another interesting difference is the focus on sugar daddies. This is mostly (I feel) almost a joke back home, but here, where so many people are impoverished, it is a reality. This borderline prostitution involves men (usually older men) buying clothes, food, electronics or just giving money to young girls for sex. <br />Unfortunately, I got a chance to see how all of these are still a continuing reality recently when it was discovered that a man in my community (someone I know, he is generally seen as a pretty upstanding citizen- doesn’t drink, has a family and is in a serious relationship) was having a sugar daddy relationship with a learner. They were found out when she came home with a brand new cell phone and her suspicious parents followed her when she went to meet him. The man has known that he is HIV positive for five years. He and the young girl have been having unprotected sex for almost two years. She is one of my learners, in fact one of the ones that I am closest to (not one that I have blogged about). She is 12 years old.<br />The family is pressing charges, although there are rumors that things will be ‘sorted out’ through the traditional authorities instead of through the police. The man was fired from his job. She is going to a nearby town to be tested for HIV and to take a pregnancy test. She continues to visit me fairly often but dropped out of school last week.CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-80393859738148355512010-08-02T18:31:00.000+01:002010-08-02T18:33:26.259+01:00Sundooooowwwwner Cup!This weekend was the sundowner cup, the biggest event to hit Uis each year. 32 soccer teams came from all over the country, there was a netball tournament and a boxing competition, not to mention a show (singing and dancing) and spectators pouring in from all over damaraland. Jen and I went out with her host mom on Friday night to see what things look like and to keep the teachers from my school who were selling things company and it was absolutely crazy. There were hundreds of people everywhere. The sundowner (one of the two clubs/bars in the location) was absolutely packed and all outside it there were fires and grills and cars so that it almost looked like a late night tailgating party with people selling things. After socializing (and dancing with an old woman who decided she liked me…) we went home relatively early given that the club was open till 6 am.<br />The next day all four soccer fields in town were used and there were thousands of people watching and walking around, selling things and talking. It was fun (if not a bit overwhelming) and we had a lot of fun spending time with learners and greeting all the people we know. Sunday was more of the same, culminating in a final soccer game in the early evening. It was so bizarre to see the number of people in Uis triple overnight and the streets constantly full!<br />Sadly it was also Jen’s last weekend in Uis so we made it a full and exhausting one. Today we had to say goodbye and I’m back to being the only American (and the only white girl) in Uis. But that just means I have to do lots of fun things to make up for it! I’ll keep you posted on my adventures!CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-41636595569247230402010-07-30T15:05:00.000+01:002010-07-30T15:06:31.867+01:00Two quick things:1. The pre-primary and first grade learners have just started figuring out that it’s ok to hug me. Adorable. Today one of my little friends from grade 1 ran from the other side of the building to give me a hug and knocked the wind out of me and two pre-prim. girls dangled from my arms as I walked back to class. They are too funny!<br />2. Today we said goodbye to a principal who has been visiting our school for two weeks to help us get through the adjustment period after bringing ‘Jane Doe’ back. We had a little mini party in the staff room (celebrated with meat, as no Namibian party would be complete without it…) and I had to take pictures of each member of the staff with this man. Then the kids started moving desks and chairs in preparation for the sundowner cup (people are renting out the classrooms to sleep in) even though we still had three periods left. So school ended two hours early today (something that would have been so frustrating to me at the beginning of the year, given that I had all my lessons planned, but alas Namibia has been changing me ;) ). I hung out and took some pictures of kids clowning around for a bit but hooray for a short Friday!CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-72430473049254690592010-07-27T15:44:00.003+01:002010-07-27T15:59:31.180+01:00Status quo?Last Wednesday, "Jane Doe" came back to school. The first day, a lot of the kids were pulled out of the school, but the next day most classes had at least 2/3 of their learners, so we all let our hopes get up that the parents had just accepted the situation. Unfortunately, the father of one of the learners who was the most... involved in the possessions is a Counselor (government position) for the town and called a meeting encouraging parents to keep their kids out of school. So today I had 7 grade 6 learners and there were 9 in grade 7. There is a parents meeting again tonight and each parent received a letter telling them that if their kids are absent for three more consecutive days from school that the director of the ministry of education will be dealing with the responsible parents directly (who knows what 'dealing with' means).<br />Anyway, the point is that the saga continues. My classes grow and shrink from day-to-day and I often have two or three girls sitting in the back of my class who are avoiding the teacher in question's classes. Fortunately, I am back to teaching my normal number of classes and no longer have to 'baby sit' classes during my free period, so hopefully school will feel like less of a drag soon.<br />Nothing else too exciting is going on currently, but this upcoming weekend is the Sundowner Cup in Uis, and apparently soccer teams are coming from all over the country to compete. It sounds like the town will be swarmed with people and there will be things happening all weekend, so I'm excited! Hope you're looking forward to hearing about that excitement!CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-11411918760463585902010-07-19T14:27:00.000+01:002010-07-19T14:33:39.516+01:00Still want to help?Hi again! I’m back to blogging after a wonderful and relaxing weekend in Tsumeb with some of the other volunteers ☺<br />Many of you have been writing and asking what you can send or if you can help out the school at all and I finally have a good answer for you! As you know, I have done by best to whip the library into shape, but there is still one big problem: the big bookshelf (where I have non-fiction sitting) has some very messed up shelves. Specifically they only go back about 6 inches, so there is a big space that the books constantly fall down. It’s a very ridiculous design, and I have no idea why someone would build a bookshelf like that. I have, therefore, contracted my new friend who is a carpenter to make a custom built, huge bookshelf to replace it. The only problem is that it will cost between 1000 and 1400 Namibian dollars ($133 to 187 US) plus the cost of paint, since I plan to paint it in a color-coded fashion to make the smooth running of the library more sustainable. So if you think you would like to help out and contribute a bit to pay for it, I would really, really appreciate it!<br />If you think you want to, please mail the donations to my parents (I won’t post the address on the world wide web but if you don’t have it send me an email and I will happily provide it) as soon as you can, and they will deposit it so that I can take it out here and make the exciting new purchase! Let me know if you have any questions, and many thanks if you even consider it!CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-43366378338861601802010-07-15T16:42:00.000+01:002010-07-15T16:43:48.063+01:00Hello again!Hello!!! I finally have my computer back, sorry for slacking so much on the blog while I waited for repairs, and thanks to those of you who continued to check for updates! It has been a while so I will try to just do a quick catch up on the recent goings on around here!<br />Witch update<br /> The regional director, education inspector, and several other people with intimidating titles came to the school this week and met with management, teachers, parents and learners to announce that no proof of witchcraft was found so the teacher in question will be reinstated. Obviously many parents are outraged and will probably be taking their kids out of school but from the government’s position, there’s not much they can do.<br />4th of July<br /> For the fourth of July I went with Kristen, Jena, Wes and Kyle to visit Ari in the far far northeast. It was a chance to get to see yet another culture within Namibia and was a lot of fun. He lives right next to a beautiful river that forms the border with Angola in the only cement house for kilometers (also the only one with running water and electricity, so people were always coming and going). We cooked American foods, donned ridiculous party hats and masks, blew mini voovoozelias, and had a bonfire by the river. It was a pretty excellent weekend.<br />School and social<br /> School has started to be quite a chore, to put it mildly. A combination of being short one teacher (so the kids are sitting un-taught for at least two periods each day, which breeds loneliness), demons interrupting class, and all sorts of goings on that have disrupted regular routines, the learner’s behavior has deteriorated. I put up with kids misbehaving, whining, talking, fighting, and blatantly refusing to do work almost every class. It doesn’t matter if I’m enthusiastic and far too excited about something like decimals or yelling at the top of my lungs. Good behavior rewards have been tried and worked for the first couple of days but have stopped having much influence (I actually had a class say “miss we were too naughty, don’t give anyone stars”- glad they know it!). I am really, really hoping that the other teacher returning will restore some sort of balance, but we will see.<br /> Fortunately, life outside of school has started to be really great. Somehow, I actually have friends now (suddenly!) and between cooking with my “crew” of older white friends, playing games with my learners, exploring with the summer volunteers, or just hanging out and chatting with my neighbor and his friends, I have started to be busy. As much as I missed all of you, I think not having a computer helped to force me out into the real world! This past weekend included watching burn notice with Jen and her host brother and his friends, hiking to the reservoir, watching a religious dance performance, a braai (barbeque) for the world cup finals, tea at 10 PM with learners and friends, church, and soccer, just to give you an idea ☺<br />Random-<br /> For some unknown reason, Jen and I have taken up baking, which is a bizarre hobby to acquire in Namibia. We have semi-successfully (tasted ok, even if it wasn’t the original plan) made rice crispies treats, cookies, and cheesecake.<br /> Funny snippet from my life: Monday included a dance party on my back porch with some learners, a little boy (6 or 7 but could dance like a maniac) and my neighbor. I taught them line dances and how to bachata and they tried to tell me I could dance to hip hop but laughed at me nonetheless. After walking one girl home she turned to me and said “miss, I wish every day could be this fun!’ Adorable.<br /><br />Anyway this is quite long enough, but look forward to (hopefully!) more regular updates now, and keep the questions/comments coming!CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-42142916964395351852010-06-26T18:15:00.003+01:002010-06-26T18:30:26.994+01:00Witch Hunt UpdateA little update on what has been going on and some answers to questions about the whole ordeal!<div>The kids are back in school and the teacher who has been accused is on leave for an undetermined amount of time while a group from the ministry of education investigates the whole thing. The investigation involves a lot of interviews and meeting with everyone involved one-on-one. While the teacher is gone, we have divided up her classes (there will be no replacement teacher...) so I am now also teaching grade 7 math. A bit of a disaster this week as i tried to jump in on what they had been doing, but it's getting better now that I'm on the same page as the learners. </div><div>So in answer to some of your questions about the whole thing:</div><div>I honestly have no idea if what the kids were doing was a big act or not. I believe that they honestly believe what was happening to them was true, and I think that if they convinced themselves of it enough that it is probably real for them. That being said, the kids involved were some of the more dramatic learners, and while not kids I would necessarily expect this sort of thing from (Mclean was involved, for example) I can see them getting swept up in the excitement. </div><div>I am not afraid for my safety. While it's true that I am the only other non-Damara at the school, my relationship as an american is very different from the inter-ethnic relationships here. I do not think this sort of thing could be turned on me either, since no one would be able to explain where i learned African witchcraft. </div><div>This sort of thing has happened before, not at my school, but up north. It has not happened for several years however, and is by no means a common occurrence. We have been all over the Namibian news (TV, paper, radio) for weeks now. </div><div>I will let you know what the investigative team decides!</div>CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-39469511237189529962010-06-18T11:36:00.002+01:002010-06-18T11:42:50.466+01:00Ch ch ch ch changes!In addition to the witch hunt madness currently taking over Uis, there have been two other big changes in community life. The first is the start of the world cup. Soccer fever is rampant here, and everyone is soooo excited to have the world cup so close. Schools have been having jersey days, and a lot of conversation is about the games going on right now. It's really fun to have everyone so excited!<br />The other big change is the arrival of the World Teach summer volunteer in Uis. Her name is Jen and she will be around for two months. It's nice to have someone new to talk to and i feel like an expert when i get to answer questions about life and logistics here. It's a little annoying, though, that everyone keeps saying "now you have a friend!" which I understand is them expressing excitement but my reply of "I had friends before too!" just gets met with laughs (or in one case "no you didn't!"... great, thanks :) )Nonetheless, it is fun to have another white person in the location and another native english speaker too!<br />The last change is that my computer is temporarily out of commission. I just want to give you a heads up that blog posts may be more sporradic and it could take me a bit longer than usual to respond to emails. thankfully Jen has access to the computer lab at her school, so I should be able to use that (once the internet gets fixed) but I just wanted to give you a heads up!CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-16414597793404129932010-06-18T11:25:00.002+01:002010-06-18T11:36:28.892+01:00The Witch HuntLast Friday, I walked out of the library at about 9 in the morning to go teach class and I could hear screaming. i went to the main courtyard and was surprised to see kids crying, screaming, writhing on the ground, and behaving erratically. There were also about 200 adults from town assisting the kids and herding most of them away from the courtyard over towards the soccer field. My first thought was that this was some sort of play, since everything was so dramatic. But i asked around and was told that demons had been in one of the classrooms and had attacked/infected several of the learners. The town had come out to pray over them, including 5 or so pastors who were performing exorcisms. I got to watch and take pictures for FOUR HOURs as the possessions and exorcisms continued, with one learner ending up being tied hand to feet because she was attacking a pastor. another learner clung desperately to my leg and clawed at my pants while mothers yelling "out! Out in the name of Jesus!" dragged her from the staffroom. needless to say, it was a very bizarre day.<br />The problems continued however, because my colleague (Jane Doe) was accused of being responsible for the whole thing. She had stayed home friday to get some paperwork done, and while she was absent some "possessed" learners (and, i think, some parents too) completely destroyed her classroom while looking for snakes.<br />This whole week, no learners have come to school. They say they are afraid, but mostly it is the parents protesting, saying the kids will not come back until the teacher is sent away from the school. There have been constant meetings of the school board, visits from the ministry inspector, parents meetings, a trial by the traditional leaders (led by the chief, who i have a newfound respect for since he has been so level-headed in the midst of hysteria). Yesterday the national news came to film a protest staged by the parents around the school.<br />The whole thing has been very interesting and frustrating. I'm trying not to get too involved, because this is something I don't feel i can address with the required cultural sensitivity. I will let you know what happens as further developments arise!CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-21366019923840341432010-06-10T19:31:00.000+01:002010-06-10T19:32:58.705+01:00EsauEsau… oh Esau. I honestly cannot believe I have not written about him yet. My friends here all know Esau’s name (and Mclean’s) because about 90% of the stories I have are about the two of them. Esau can (and frequently does) single-handedly make or break my day. It’s actually a joke with the rest of the 6th grade class because he so dominates the classroom atmosphere.<br /> Esau is in his seat about 10% of the time. The other 90% is spent either wandering around, standing right next to me, sitting next to whichever girl he is currently ‘in love with’ (read- currently tormenting), sitting next to someone he is trying to copy off of, or just sitting next to someone he can distract. He is also constantly talking. Constantly.<br /> Despite this, however, he can still be great to have in class. He is actually quite quick and bright, he always tries to give an answer, and I can count on him to volunteer for anything from writing something on the board to letting me push him (gently, of course) as a demonstration of a contact force. He can be very entertaining and can be a good student, at least on the days when he hasn’t decided to make my life a living hell.<br /> Some days, Esau decides to pick a fight. “Now Tina,” you say, “you are much to intelligent to get into a petty fight with an 11-year-old.” And I used to think that you were right. But when you have a learner accuse you of helping another learner cheat on a test, or of giving him bad marks because you are attacking him personally… it’s a little more difficult to not get sucked in. And despite years of trialing and debate practice, logic doesn’t really work with him. It’s only so disruptive because he refuses to stop arguing, pouting, and putting up a fuss, and kicking him out of the classroom results in him standing at the windows yelling at me. Even on days he doesn’t pick fights, sometimes his classroom antics have everyone so distracted that class cannot continue.<br /> This behavior might sound to you like something to be dealt with by, oh I don’t know, school administration or his parents. But you have to realize that while the situation may be worse with me because I’m an easy target (I get offended by accusations of dishonesty and don’t know the system…) he poses the same problems to his other teachers (including the principal) who have no idea what to do with him. He also lives with his ANCIENT grandmother, who very clearly (as observed from the numerous times she has been called to school) cannot do anything about how he is acting.<br /> On days when I can stay in a good mood and remember to treat Esau as a co-conspirator, he is one of my favorite students. On a day when I am already frustrated, Esau is a master at finding and pushing my buttons. Either way, he is a dominating force in my days at school and those of everyone else he meets.CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-4141718925328694562010-06-10T19:30:00.000+01:002010-06-10T19:31:34.894+01:00love it, hate itLove<br />1. Seeing “aha” moments in class. I love when a kid is staring at me blankly and then goes “oh! Miss this is so easy” and starts working furiously on a problem. Awesome.<br />2. Sitting in the library during an off period with Gideon and Dlameni who have wandered in since their teacher is absent today. I can’t keep from giggling as they ask question after question about the world cup, dinosaur sex, or gangsters in the United States.<br />3. Having a fourth grade boy I kind of know tell me I look beautiful as I go to class, despite the fact that I haven’t showered in two days because it’s so cold, my clothes are faded from hand washing, and I’m totally breaking out.<br />4. Sitting on my back porch with a cup of tea and a good book while the sun goes down, listening to the sounds of a soccer game from the field.<br /><br /><br />Hate<br />1. Blank stares as I cover the topic that inspired so many “aha” moments in class yesterday and realizing I have to talk about it again. For the 6th day in a row.<br />2. Having learners actually laugh at my visible frustration when they will not be quiet.<br />3. Having first graders bang on the door and spy through the holes in the paint on the windows to watch me eat an apple during break. It stopped being cute four months ago.<br />4. Walking into the staff room during break where everyone is talking in khoekhoe., having them tease me about how I should be able to speak it by now, and then go back to speaking khoekhoe. This is only so frustrating because it is what happens about 97% of the time, the other 3% is official meetings or responding to a direct question that I have asked.CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-39567894766310216912010-06-08T17:42:00.000+01:002010-06-08T17:43:40.750+01:00hm.There has been an interesting cultural issue in my school lately so I thought I would try to share what I know.<br />Two weekends ago, I was talking with learners who first told me about a visit from a pastor at which four girls were apparently possessed. They were called up on stage, started behaving strangely, ranted, raved, spoke in tongues, and one attacked the pastor. When the pastor asked who sent them, one of the girls said that “Jane Doe had sent her to destroy his powers” (except Jane Doe is the name of my colleague, a fellow teacher at the school). You can imagine I was shocked, but given that these were kids, I decided to wait to see if anyone else said anything.<br />The following Monday, Jane Doe came up to me and asked to talk. She was incredibly upset and we spent an hour and a half after school with her telling me everything. Apparently, the version I had heard was 100% accurate. And parents were upset. This teacher had come to school and found salt along her windowsills and at the base of the door to her classroom (a supposed remedy against witch craft).<br />She also informed me of the struggle that she has had working at this school because of ethnic discrimination. She is the only non-damara (besides me) at the school. Several other teachers have been run off by certain members of the staff. Apparently the girl who said her name at the service was the daughter of one of the women who has been most difficult to her, and whether the mother put her up to it is still to be seen.<br /><br />How to react to this is difficult. It’s not a situation I feel like I can be very culturally sensitive about (“this is ridiculous!” might escape) so I am trying to just be supportive and see what happens. Fortunately, the kids have been good about it. She spoke to two of the girls involved, and they claim to have been in a trance-like state (“everything was green where I was”) and have no memory of the incident. The kids know that she is not responsible, however, and have written letters of support and cards telling her how much they like her after seeing how upset she was. The teacher has gone to the town head man as well as her pastor, who are both going to try to address the problem.<br /><br />Not a problem we would have to deal with at a school in the states! I will let you know what happens!CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-1874155038978385002010-06-08T17:38:00.001+01:002010-06-08T17:42:29.481+01:00StatsToday after school we started a week long after school conference about identifying and helping at risk and vulnerable children. Today included a sharing of some statistics I thought you might find interesting about Namibia:<br /><br />-1/3 of grade 1 learners reach grade 12<br />-By 2020, there will be 250,000 orphans under the age of 15 in Namibia (consider also that the population is just over 2 million)<br />-35% of Namibians live on less that $1 per day (USD)<br />-50% of kids do not have basic material needs met (food, clothing, shelter)<br />-33% of rape victims (or victims of attempted rape) are under 18. 12% are under ten. (there is a belief that if you have sex with a virgin it cures HIV. Another variation is that sex with a baby will cure it)<br />-60 to 70% of children have been exposed to alcohol or drug abuse in their towns.<br />-20% of the population is HIV positive.CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-76072056668943030782010-06-01T17:43:00.000+01:002010-06-01T17:44:25.947+01:00A run in Uis.I’m tired. Even without having study after school today, three periods straight with the same grade (6th grade science, math, and religion) has left me exhausted, even after an afternoon siesta. Nonetheless, I’m determined to get back into shape, so I throw on my sneakers and head out the door for a run.<br />On the weekends I can go to the second soccer field in the mornings and run on the track that’s around it, but week days the field is occupied by a men’s soccer team (not my preferred spectators…) so I follow my usual route: a donkey cart path to the settlement. The ground is totally uneven, and the road is made of stones about the size of my fist, so I have to stare straight down to make sure I don’t sprain an ankle (and look for snakes, since I’m paranoid). As I weave my way through the now brown hills, I hear voices:<br /> “Miss! Miss!” High pitched and squeaky from some very little kids at my school.<br /> “Tiiina!” From a guy who sells gemstones outside the grocery store in town.<br /> “Hey! You! Hey!” From the woman sitting outside her house, which is made of corrugated metal.<br /><br />I give each of them a wave, and try to keep going.<br />I stop when I reach the goat path, which is currently occupied by about 75 goats being hearded back from a day grazing on the hills to a large fenced in area in the middle of the settlement (the settlement is about 10 minutes away from where I live and is where all the tin houses are). I sit and watch them as they comically hobble down, bleating and complaining, sounding frighteningly like my classes on the day of a quiz. It’s distracting, and relaxing to watch them parade by, but I can’t forget that here it’s winter and the shortest day of the year is approaching, so even though it’s 5:00, I only have about 20 minutes before the sun disappears behind Brandberg mountain. I turn to head home.<br />On the way back, I run into Matias, one of my grade 7 learners. He walks with me for a bit:<br /> “Miss! Are you exercising?”<br /> “Ha, I’m trying! But I’m tired today. Where are you going?”<br /> “To watch the TV!”<br /> “But shades of sin isn’t on for two more hours! Where will you watch it?”<br /> “I know, but I can play the soccer first. I am going to my father’s house.”<br /> “Ah ok. So do you think I can get to my house without walking?”<br /> “Yes miss! Go!”<br />And spurred on by the knowledge that he’s watching, I make it home, thinking that a cold shower isn’t sounding quite so bad.CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2122732003817924741.post-28633170832761796922010-05-25T12:36:00.000+01:002010-05-25T12:39:04.724+01:00The rest of the holidaySo I will try to catch you all up on what has been going on for the past two weeks (and supplement the guest blog post that I hope you all enjoyed ☺). I apologize if this comes out as a list of “we did this, then this, then this” I will do my best to avoid that but it might be tricky to fit it all in!<br />The last few days in Cape Town continued to be incredible. We lucked out and had beautiful weather on our last day, which was when we drove down the Cape of Good Hope. We got to see African penguins (too funny!) and miles and miles of gorgeous coastline. We hiked to the lighthouse at the tip of cape point, and it was absolutely spectacular. We ended the trip with one last ridiculous night out, full of far too much dancing and after about an hour of sleep, we got back on the bus for another long but uneventful trip back to Windhoek.<br /> I met my parents in Windhoek (yay!!!) and after a night in there we headed to a cat reserve. We did cheetah and leopard tracking, which was absolutely amazing (and which my dad already mentioned… kind of) and we had these spectacular rooms with windows that looked out across a plain full of animals.<br />After two days we went up to Etosha, Namibia’s biggest national park, and saw tons of animals, as you might have gathered. I will let the guest blog do the talking there.<br />My parents got to come see my house in Uis and we spent a couple days hanging out (they wanted to fix everything in my house) and hiking to see the cave paintings nearby. It was fun to get to show them my school and my town, as well as see a side of Namibia that they might not have gotten to if we had just kept hopping from gorgeous lodge to gorgeous lodge. We also spent a couple of days in Swakopmund, which was fun since I have obviously told them lots and lots about it! On the way out of Swakop, we did a boat tour which was pretty entertaining. My mom and I had a full-grown male seal sit on our laps and we got to see dolphins playing in the water. Then we headed south and visited a national park where we got to see the red dunes that you will see lots of pictures of if you find any book about Namibia. We ran into some of my friends in both Swakop and Soussesvlei and my parents got a kick out of meeting them.<br />We headed back up to Windhoek where I bade goodbye to my parents and said hello to my entire group who had re-convened for mid-service. This whole past weekend I have been having sessions with the group and getting ready to go back to teaching. We also got to have some fun-- we had a big braai with live music and lots of friends on Saturday night, which was definitely the highlight of the weekend.<br />I got back to Uis last night, sad after many goodbyes and wishing I was more ready to start teaching. Today I get to just get ready for classes and settle back in to my routine, which is a bit different now that I have a new roommate (I promise to tell you more about her as I learn more, for now her name is either Megan or Maggie, she is from Swakopmund, likes singing and seems incredibly nice). I hope everyone enjoyed the month of May as much as I did!CBaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361642788509176377noreply@blogger.com0